Steve Oldford, the U.S. representative for the World Cup of Amateur Racing in Finland, has given his account of the second day of the three-day event.
YOUTH DOMINATES DURING SECOND DAY OF WORLD CUP COMPETITION
Our Finnish hosts were concerned last week about this week’s weather, as it snowed just days before our arrival to Finland. The weather continues to cooperate with temperatures around 27° C (around 80° F) and brilliantly blue skies.
On the two-hour trip to Tampere, our gracious hosts took us to the YPAJA Equine College which is the leading facility in Finland for breeding, training, and equine education. The proud heritage of the Finnish Coldblood breed is evident in the museum on the grounds and in the over 100 Coldbloods in training at the facility. Coldbloods are Finnish cart and work horses that were bred over the years to trot (hopefully fast!). One third of the races are the Coldblood breed.
After a beautiful parade of drivers, complete with a limousine ride to and from the paddock, gifts were presented in the winner’s circle and interviews given with the previous night’s winners.
The three World Cup races tonight were dominated by youth, as young drivers from The Netherlands, Belgium, and Switzerland came away with the wins. Along with the young Finnish overall point leader Janne Raisanen who won yesterday, this group makes up the top four point leaders. They are 57, 55, 54, and 51 points, respectively. I remained in the middle of the pack with 35 points.
My evening of racing was highlighted by a scratch (we do get points for this), a breaker, and a sixth-place finish with a long-odds horse.
The group travels together by bus and has been enjoying each other’s stories of home, family, and, of course, racing.
Related Stories